Bluefin Tuna Need You Now | Care2 Causes

Note: This is a guest post from Lee Crockett, Director of Federal Fisheries Policy at the Pew Environment Group . In the Gulf of Mexico, surface longlines intended to catch yellowfin tuna and swordfish indiscriminately catch and kill more than 80 other species of ocean wildlife, including severely depleted western Atlantic bluefin tuna . This species is particularly at risk : scientific studies have identified it as a distinct population (as compared to eastern Atlantic bluefin) that reproduces only in the Gulf. For decades, the U.S. government has tried to restore this bluefin tuna stock, but regulations such as seasonal hook modifications and restrictions on the use of live bait have failed to sufficiently protect bluefin and other species from wasteful longline fishing. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 further exacerbated the decades-old problem caused by surface...